Friday, May 23, 2014

Some Noah and Matilda blocks to share with you today. I am not working on them in any particular order. Just what suits my fancy. The lower right block is one I showed previously. These are the four I have done. I am doing mine prim style and using a lot of Kansas Troubles fabrics that I have in stash.

Next up is a single block from a Gwen Marston pattern. She called it "Flowers In Vase With Bird". The sample in the book was done as a single block, quilted and bound. I have no particular plans for this and will probably do the same as she did.

I have one side done of the next medallion border for "Tiptoe Through the Tulips". There are corner appliques to do but I won't be able to do them until the other four sides are stitched and added.

I have block five done for the "Piece and Plenty" basket quilt. That makes me up to date on this project. I am doing one section a month.

I recently made a used book purchase of "Baltimore Bride's Quilt Designs" which is from Dover books. Some nice applique block designs but most would need enlarging. I was amused that the designs got smaller the further back in the book you go. By the time you get the the end and find the border designs, they are teeny tiny.

I don't think I would try enlarging the border drawings. I think they would be too grainy looking by the time you got them large enough. But there are some nice drawings in the book (no color pictures except on the cover). And no quilt layouts. I purchased the book through Amazon and the price was very reasonable.

I am sewing together pieces and parts for a Jan Patek design and will be finishing the interior of the quilt. It is trying my patience with so many partial seams. I hope the effort is worth it in the end.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

A new finished wall quilt. Small in size. The pattern I used is "Flower Basket" and is a Cheri Payne design.

The photo makes the quilt look more narrow on the bottom but it is just the camera angle. I used French General fabric for the basket and the final border. More of the alphabet fabric that I like. Now all I have left is small scraps of it. All the fabrics came from my stash. I don't think you can see the button well enough to know that it has a horse head on it. The button is on the very top flower. Just something I had in the button box.

I plan on spending some quality time in the sewing room today. Maybe you can too.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

I made a start on the applique blocks for a quilt pattern called "Loch Lomond". It is a Geoff's Mom pattern. The blocks are large. Twenty inches and there are six and then the borders. I have two done and am close to having a third finished.

The second block took longer to stitch because of those three ball shaped flowers. Curves! And there are a ton of that shape to go on the border.

I have a small wall quilt almost done and will be back to share the finished product with you. Another Cheri design.
Karen

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Winter! Not here! But I have finished a very wintery looking quilt. I made "Warm Winter Blessings" which is a Primitive Gatherings design.

I used wool for the applique with cotton for the background and pieced parts. And I was able to pull everything I used from stash. Mary from Quilt Hollow did the quilting. I asked for something that looked like a snowflake. Here are some close-ups.

Friday, May 2, 2014

April has come and gone and I am a bit late posting progress on my blocks of the month. First up are the blocks from Kathy Schmitz's "Simply Red" book that I am doing in blue. I decided to finish all the machine applique blocks instead of doing just two. Next up will be the pieced blocks for the setting.

I made another block for the "Piece and Plenty" basket quilt. I did not care for the block 4 basket design and did not use it in either of the first two of these quilts that I made. I used a Jan Patek design and altered it somewhat so it would fit the 12 inch block space. I also made the filler blocks but am not showing those.

I made my first basket blocks for Jan Patek's "Hearts and Flowers" quilt that I am working on.

The last thing I am sharing today is how I decided to finish the large bird block I made a while back. I used a free pattern called "Lydia's Dowry". It is a medallion style pattern. I used stash to make the applique center block. I don't have enough of the fabrics that I used to continue making the complete quilt pattern and really never intended it to be a large size. I started with the blue French General blue alphabet fabric as a border. I sewed it on and then decided it just was not working. I took the border pieces off and then added the red flange. If I would have had more of the blue alphabet fabric, I would have added a slightly wider red border first but since I had used all the blue and could not make longer border strips, the flange was all I could do. The dark brown border came next since it was similar shade to the darker brown applique pieces. And it had a pinkish red and a similar blue. I am happy with the result.